Thanks for the tip, Sheila. And it's always nice to know that our lovingly made items are appreciated, isn't it? And congratulations, Grandma!

I have a good booties pattern that's vintage. They stay on and are fun to make:
http://fuzzygalore.biz/patterns/cbbooties.shtml

Thanks for the link "busy". I saved that one.

Thanks, Donna. He is a doll!

Now a friend has a 1.6 pound premature grandson. I guess he will be in the hospital for months, so I am going to make some really tiny booties. Since I have not seen him, I will guess, and they'll still be too big probably.

another thing you can make are little hats - two of my friends both had grandchildren who were premature - twins @ 3.3 and 3.5 and another little girl at 3.13. I made the tiny hats since they wear them at the hospital. The mothers were thrilled since they had their own hats made by someone who cares about them individually. Of course, I have now made extras to donate to the hospital. There are plenty of patterns online but I'll send some along on Thursday if you need any (no time until then except for a quick response)

I would appreciate hat ideas. I have no idea how small to go. Turns out what I have made for 7 pound DGS are all too big still. So how do I guess the size for this peanut? And by the way, did you launder your knitted gifts first to get rid of the sizing on the yarn and make the items softer????

Sheila, On your other post, I sent you a link to Touching Little Lives. It is a charity organization in Ohio that I have knitted a few hats for. They have free patterns avail. for knit, crochet and sewing. They have need of gowns, hats, booties, and, unfortunately, burial gowns. They have a size chart for hats on the web site. For a premie of about 3 pounds, if I remember right, a hat should fit a med. size orange. They will also give you instructions about wether or not to wash your gifts.

Project Linus is another wonderful charity for such items.

I am not affiliated with either group. I have made a couple of hats for TLL, but mostly had contact with them for the info I needed for a friend's grand baby.

I'll continue to keep the little one in my prayers.

Tami

Shelia,
I really like a number of the hats on this page. I crochet so I made a few different ones but made some adjustments depending on what yarn I used. Made the Carousel Cap using a terry yarn, I like Melinda Gorley's (marked Bonnet & Booties) since I added the ruffle for the girls. Depending on my mood I select different patterns since there are a few with different stitches. Suggestion - no pom-poms on top, I made some of those twirly toppers since they are softer and lay flat. I also used the Coats & Clark Gotcha Covered Hats - they have a pattern for both knitting and crocheting. The thing I like about that pattern is it gives all the instructions from a preemie hat to a man and also from fingering yarn to bulky - a great general pattern that you can adapt to whatever. For example I made one in a toddler size in red and added two white pom-pom eyes and a big orange pom-pom as a nose and it was my version of an Elmo hat. The kids loved it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bevs Country Cottage Patterns for Preemies

forgot to state that YES, I wash and dry all my gifts before giving. One reason is softness the other is to capture any loose dog hairs that tend to float in the air and get into the piece I'm working on. My dog is a mix - beagle/pointer and those hairs get into everything except in the summer when we shave her.